Catalog Archive
Auction 150, Lot 761

"Report of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, Showing The Progress of the Survey During the Year 1853", U.S. Coast Survey

Subject: Exploration and Surveys

Period: 1854 (dated)

Publication: Sen. Ex. Doc. No. 14, 33rd Cong., 1st Sess.

Color: Black & White

Size:
9.5 x 11.7 inches
24.1 x 29.7 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

The Office of Coast Survey is the oldest U.S. scientific organization, dating from 1807 when Congress directed that a "survey of the coast" be carried out. By 1836, it was called the U.S. Coast Survey and in 1878, the name was changed to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Today the Office of Coast Survey is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA.

The survey teams, composed of civilians as well as Army and Naval officers, charted the nation's waterways and produced a wide array of reports, survey charts, hydrographic studies of tides and currents, astronomical studies and observations, and coastal pilots. These charts are an important record of the changing nature of the nation's coastlines. In additional to coastal charts, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey produced land sketches, Civil War battle maps, and the early aeronautical charts.

This annual report by the Coast Survey is complete and contains fifty-four folding charts and sketches. The surveys covered by this report include the Atlantic, Gulf and California coasts. Important charts include Seacoast of Virginia, Cape Fear River, Galveston Entrance, San Diego Entrance and San Francisco Bay and Vicinity (see images for a complete listing of maps). Complete, 186 pp. Robert Armstrong, Public Printer. Hardbound in original embossed black cloth boards with gilt titles.

References:

Condition: B+

Maps are good to very good with some occasional toning. Map no. 1 (Nantucket region) has a 7.5" binding tear and map no. 6 (Long Island region) has a 2.5" binding tear. Text has light scattered foxing which is more prevalent in the first half of the book. Covers and spine are excellent with only minor wear.

Estimate: $300 - $375

Sold for: $160

Closed on 9/17/2014

Archived